Corrections

CORRECTIONS for FEEDING THE MONSTER

In putting together a paperback edition of Hard News, I decided to include a corrections section. I wrote at the time, “I knew that the book would come under intense scrutiny because of the nature of the story. For that reason, and because I hoped readers would not only find the book enjoyable but also might learn something, I tried to be as transparent as possible. … I have had almost no complaints about mistakes. I did, however, make some errors, and in an effort to continue with this transparency, I’m offering up a relative rarity in the world of publishing: a correction section.”

Less than two weeks after the publication of Feeding the Monster, I’ve learned many things, not the least of which is that baseball fans are, without a doubt, considerably more obsessive than newspaper junkies. As is the case in any book that’s ever been published, there are some errors – and I’ve heard from multiple people about almost every one. (For everyone who’s wondered, yes, I do know that Willie Mays is not Barry Bonds’s grandfather. No, I’m not sure how that got changed in the text. And yes, I think you should stop reading on page 35 if that makes you doubt the veracity of everything else in the book.)

In an effort to continue with this transparency, I’m posting a list of the corrections that appeared in paperback editions of Feeding the Monster. (The page numbers below refer to the first edition of the hardcover.) I’d tell readers to let me know if they find anything else…but I’m sure you will anyway.

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In “From the Beaneaters to the Babe”: Research done by author and long-time Red Sox fan Bill Nowlin has shown that the Red Sox were not, as has often been reported, referred to as the Pilgrims in 1903; that nickname came later, and appears to have been used infrequently. (p. 23)

Also in “Tom Yawkey’s Team, Ted Williams’s Town”: In 1942, after pressure from a Communist Party newspaper, Jackie Robinson was granted a cursory tryout by the Chicago White Sox; this tryout was mainly ignored by the mainstream press at the time. Ten days after his tryout, Robinson reported to the Army. (p. 34)

In “The Gerbil, the Spaceman, the Rocket, and the Curse”: In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the scoreboard at Shea Stadium congratulated the Red Sox on winning the World Series. Bruce Hurst was announced as the Series’ MVP in the pressbox. (p. 45)

Also in “The Gerbil, the Spaceman, the Rocket, and the Curse”: Dan Shaughnessy is eight years, not six years, younger than Peter Gammons. He worked at Baltimore’s Evening Sun, not Baltimore’s Sun. (p. 47)

In “The Yawkey Trust”: Nineteen ninety-nine was not the third time in five years that the Red Sox had won the American League wild card; in 1995, they won the American League East. (p. 52)

Also in “The Yawkey Trust”: It was John Harrington, not Dan Duquette, that spearheaded the campaign against the sausage vendors outside of Fenway Park. (p. 53)

In “Selling Boston’s Salvation”: After Terry Francona told Dan Shaughnessy that he had “lost all respect” for him, Francona and Shaughnessy went into the manager’s office. Francona then realized that he thought Shaughnessy had been the author of a column that had actually been penned by another author. (Footnote on pgs. 64 and 65)

In “The Baseball Visionary”: The professional basketball league is called the National Basketball Association, not the National Basketball League. (Footnote, p. 82)

In “Enter Bill James”: Baseball is a discrete series of interactions between two individual combatants, not a discreet series of interactions. (p. 159)

In “Introducing the Boy Wonder”: Jed Hoyer worked in the admissions office of Wesleyan University, not Wesleyan College. (p. 175)

In “Not Again”: The 2003 playoffs were the second time Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez had faced each other in the postseason; they’d also faced each other in the regular season. (p. 219)

In “Welcome to the Jungle”: Trot Nixon is signed through 2006, not 2007. (p. 257)

In “Treading Water”: Alex Rodriguez was 1-17 in his first series at Fenway as a member of the Yankees, not 2-17. (p. 266)

Also in “Treading Water”: Theo Epstein referred to the Red Sox’s July 24, 2004 come-back victory over the Yankees as “catalytic” not “cataclysmic.” (p. 275)

In “Can You Believe It?”: Peter Gammons was watching the end of Game 5 of the 2004 American League Championship Series down the first-base line, not the third-base line. (p. 300)

Also in “Can You Believe It?”: Because Alex Rodriguez was called for interference after he slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s mitt in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, Derek Jeter was sent back to first base, not second base. (p. 302)

Also in “Can You Believe It?”: Mark Bellhorn’s home run in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS was not initially ruled a ground-rule double; Bellhorn ended up on second base with what would have been a regulation double. (p. 303)

In “The Morning After”: The 2005 White Sox did trail in the World Series versus the Astros. (p. 310)

Also in “The Morning After”: Paul Dolan is not the cousin of Charles Dolan; he is his nephew. (p. 315)

In “The Manny Sagas, Part 2”: Fenway’s press box is a couple of hundred feet, not a couple of hundred yards, from the limited partners’ box. (p. 354)

In “Reversing the Curse”: J.T. Snow was a backup first baseman, not a backup first basemen. (p. 399)

In “Epilogue”: June 27, 2006 was not the first time the Red Sox and the Mets had played each other since October 27, 1986; the two teams played a total of 15 times during interleague play between 1997 and 2001.